Explore Darth Vader castle in detail; Star Wars Celebrations panel members name list

The introduction of Darth Vader castle in “Rogue One” was an exciting way to add to the lore of the iconic character. In this week’s “Star Wars Show,” Lucasfilm Vice President Doug Chiang shared some interesting insights about the fortress that the casual fans may have missed. He also talked about the inspiration behind some of the designs of the interiors and shared other titbits.

Concept Artist Ralph McQuarrie did some early exploration with the design of Darth Vader’s castle. There were no designs for the interior shots, something that was needed in “Rogue One” scenes. What Chiang found interesting was the upside down triangle, which is the symbol of the Sith Lord. This symbol was incorporated in the design of the fortress.

The castle is located in Mustafar, a planet where many of the dramatic events for Anakin (Hayden Christensen) took place. When Director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) first arrives in the fortress, the entrance to the room has been designed as an upside down cone.

The doorway that opens up to reveal Darth Vader is shaped like the mouth of his helmet. Chiang explained that going inside the castle was like going inside the character. The scene revealing the character was important to the team, who knew that the fans would immediately recognize even his shadow. In the end they decided to first show the character’s shadow, as that would have been more threatening compared to a direct reveal. This was also a way to pay homage to the “Indiana Jones” film. The villains in the bar scene in “ The Raiders Of The Lost Ark” are also first revealed through their shadow.

The castle is built around the bacta tank, which is the most important part of the building. But, the Sith Lord also needs his meditation room and a training area. The basement of the fortress has catacombs or “ancient area,” which could be home to the artefacts he has collected over the years and also some of his personal belongings that carry sentimental value.

Lucasfilm has built the full map of Darth Vader castle. Chiang hopes they will get the opportunity to show more rooms inside the fortress in future movies.

Meanwhile, a list of panel members at the Celebrations event in Orlando next week has also been announced. Hayden Christensen will be back on the panel after a gap of 15 years. He will be joined by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, Executive Producer of the animation series “Star Wars Rebels” Dave Filoni, Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Ian McDiarmid (Palpatine), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) and Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian).